It’s “Hey Rene J” Today!

Look what I am going to do with my fabric scraps! It’s not like a sheet wouldn’t do the trick, but these are so cute and easy to sew. I’m going to channel my inner creativity and work on this project, thus avoiding taking down Christmas lights and cleaning.

I think it feeds into the “magical” theme this year. Happy Tuesday!

There were three musical groups in which I performed during high school: the school chorus, the “swing” group or whatever we were called, performing such hits as, “Feeling Groovy,” and of course, the Triple Trio.

I awoke singing “Feeling Groovy” this morning at 4:26. Though I was definitely not feeling it, I couldn’t stop thinking about the group of nine teen girls who sang and won first place ribbons at the district music contests. I don’t recall those songs at all, but we had fun, the three sopranos, mezzos and altos. Standing spindly-legged and swaying to our tunes, we apparently had lovely voices. Wouldn’t it be fun to be able to review those moments on film or phone? How geeky and gawky we were, thinking we were destined for greatness.

Now that I have a bit of caffeine under my belt I shall endeavor to feel a bit more groovy today. If I only had my favorite pair of bell-bottomed, red polka-dotted pants! I’d probably trip walking in them. They are best left in memory, too.

Look at this photo taken inside my bathroom today. It is rather magical, I’d say, and it may lead to me purloining my husband’s intention for the year.

The little fish are from my grandmother’s bathroom and remind me of childhood and the time I climbed through a window to rescue a little cousin locked in that bathroom. The rainbows are from the crystal drawer pulls I procured from the sale bin at a store, determined to convince my husband we needed them in our decor.

Every day I can see the turning of the world through the rainbow movement. Magical moments in a rather utilitarian space. I’ll look for more in 2024. (An accidental rhyme. Magical!)

Yes, I resemble this remark, dear daughter. And what fun it is!

Happy first Friday of the year. Let’s make it a good one.

The weekly Wednesday watch of our two-year old granddaughter occurred with her bringing her twin sisters.

So, we are still trying to figure out where everyone naps – and we are NOT changing where the eldest rests. (And I don’t mean me.) As the oldest of four, I respect the big sister’s right to have her space and not have to share – just yet. There will be plenty of time for that – pretty much the rest of her life.

Therefore, since we only have one upscale pack-n-play where you don’t have to bend to the ground and wrench your back, we instituted the time-recognized tradition of outfitting a drawer on the dining room table for a little one. (No wrenching of the back.) My daughter slept in a drawer when we traveled. My son slept in the bathtub of an RV when we camped. The common denominator – getting a baby to sleep!

It all changes soon enough and our drawer will return to its home. Our dining room table will be used again for dining. My husband’s office will one day be free of the changing table. And…I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s good to use everything in the house to serve us, as it should.

Next up? Bathing in the sink! Another time-honored tradition.

Writing goals and making a daily list increases the likelihood of accomplishing said goals by 42%.

I’m listening to a podcast on routines and their value, particularly the way the saints used routines. So far, there is nothing earth shattering happening because somehow we all know this stuff. It’s just doing it with intentionality. “Parsha” was encouraging my husband and I to find a word of intentionality to guide us this year. My husband chose “magical.” That should be fun! I don’t have an intentional word or idea, other than checking out my purse collection. However, we have a couple of encouraging words gleaned from St. Theresa of Avila and her routines.

Each day write down one to three “must dos” for the day – not just a little list of what you hope to accomplish but what you must do. The other big one is to cultivate deep friendships. You have to have someone in your corner and be in someone else’s corner, also.

Okay – those are my two gems for the second day of the new year. Now off I go to intentionally do something!

The theme of the year is…metaphorical. We English Majors keep the world spinning, so my sister and I (she’s a numbers girl though) chose an appropriate motif to guide us. It is meant to help us sift and sort through what is most important to us. But before we enter that time-honored tradition of giving the year a theme, let us recall the past honorees, good and bad.

It all began with the pineapple and an embellished dish towel from “Pann.” “Stand tall, wear a crown, and be sweet on the inside.” We tried to emulate pineapples the first year. After that we moved to mermaids, swimming through life. We had a sub-theme for the porch one year, that of “lemons.” We went on to camels, penguins, octopi, and of course, the ever-popular-no-one-remembers 2023 theme – “whales.” (I guess that one was just too large for us to understand?) The bigger question in all of this – why do my baby sister and I choose a theme? Easy answer. Silliness – and in complete honor of our middle sister who still remains with us in our yearly efforts to laugh and enjoy this world.

Therefore, this year we shall be honoring the beloved and cherished, “purse.” Call it a satchel, bag, tote, whatever…but we throw a lot into our purses and expect them to produce what we need when we want it! But do we properly restore them, replenish the supplies, respect their tender hides? Once in awhile I manage to throw a package of tissues in after I’m searching for the remains of a well-used scrap. Most often I’m lugging around two to three pair of glasses I haven’t removed. I often throw my bag on the floor, scraping up grime and muck from around the world. My purses, though taken for granted, have been stoic, hanging in there year after year, travel after travel, celebration after celebration.

Obviously, the purse is a metaphor for your life. What are you toting around that needs replenishing, tossing, restoring? (Sometimes you just need to start over and get a new purse, too…unless your name is “Pristina.” You have enough.) Whatever it is – enjoy ruminating on this extended metaphor and share the theme with those around you, especially strangers. Somehow they seem to think they have missed a TikTok about this or a tweet from an influencer. You just go be an influencer all on your own and add some silliness to 2024!

Happy New Year from the theme-determining committee of two. We appreciate your support.

With this auspicious date you’d assume we’d be whooping it up tonight! Well, we are. We’ll be going through plenty of bottles and staying up well past midnight. There might even be a little hollering in there? It will be an absolutely joyful evening and the perfect way to ring in a new year.

Farewell, 2023, and thank you Lord Tennyson.

Ring Out, Wild Bells (from In Memoriam)

By Lord Alfred Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be. 

The promise of warm weather and scuba diving, along with that “clearance sale” from Land’s End sent me to the bathing suit section of the advertisement. Of course, options were limited to certain styles and sizes, so in the end I had to choose a polka dot model. Thus, my husband has been humming “She wore an itsy bitsy, teenie weenie, yellow polka dot bikini.”

It is not itsy bitsy, nor is is yellow or a bikini. It is merely a suitable replacement for the time-worn, weary-elasticized models I have been relying on. And, it has spurred me on to re-examining my wardrobe.

That cleaning of the closet still hangs in the balance. I’m just waiting for 2024 so that I can accomplish one thing in the new year. No sense crossing off something in the old year?

Happy end of 2023!

Nothing says “Christmas” like a few rousing rounds of Bingo!

It was a tradition my mother began with her little paper game of Christmas bingo. There were always prizes which one of my sisters procured for her – usually gift cards. It was a lucrative adventure if you were lucky enough to have a winning card. So when our dinner yesterday grew to 12 guests, the obvious thing to do after dining ‘twas bingo! (Well, that and “jumping frogs,” a new tradition to be sure.)

I’m surveying the damage from the fun and frenzy, which is happily non-existent. Everything is cleaned up quite nicely. I see a new ball we can play with, a puzzle to assemble, some yummy “moose munch” for later, and one unopened gift under the tree. It’s not for me so I’m not too excited about that.

The gently falling snow has me yawning this morning and considering an early nap, all as I listen to a doctor and his recommendations for “safe shoveling.” That can wait until later – maybe after I shovel some moose munch into my tummy.

Peace on earth.